The Coming Storm
by AryaTyrell
Summary: "I guess Gray sees a part of himself in her, which is why he's so drawn to her... but she sees what she wants to become in Natsu, who never even gives her the time of day." Gray/OC vs. Natsu/OC.


******A/N:**** Hello, everyone! Again. I actually published this story earlier on, but then found that I had selected the wrong document for it, therefore publishing(unfinished) drafts for my other fanfictions. Upon discovering this I immediately went back to to replace the content, but by then I had already changed the intended document to a version of Chapter 2 of this story... and I had to rewrite the this chapter. So... apologies. Many, many apologies.**

* * *

**_Gray_**

"She looks like a cute one."

"Kinda dumb, too..."

"Don't you get it, the _dumb _ones are the easiest!"

Gray sat up from his perch on the bench. He'd been waiting for Lillianne to return from her weekly trip to the market in the place of Mirajane. Usually he went with her, but Makarov had held him back. _You can't protect her all the time, you know. Let her pave her own path in this world. _

His eye fell on the boys who had been speaking- three high school boys who couldn't have been older than him. Lillianne was a few meters away, with that dumb smile on her face like always. Her goggles were around her neck, resting on her exposed collarbone above her buttoned shirt.

"She _does_ look like she'll buy anything..."

"Girls who are so _assertive _all the time are annoying, don't you think?"

There was something in the way the boys were looking at her, something she wouldn't recognize. And it was something she wouldn't be able to defend herself from, no matter how powerful her magic might have become. Gray swung his legs over the bench and casually walked up to her before slipping an arm around her waist. She jumped at the sudden contact but otherwise did nothing; Gray looked pointedly at the boys as they passed, shock and horror on each of their faces.

"Shit, _run!" _

"Move, move! Get outta the way!"

A little smirk played on his lips as they scurried away, relishing the fleeting moment of triumph. But as soon as they were gone, he smacked the back of her head, withdrawing his arm from around her. "Idiot. Don't go around town all spaced out like that without me, understand? Or weird goons like them are gonna try something."

She nodded, almost apologetically, a faint "uh-huh" issuing forth, and Gray flushed.

"I- I didn't mean anything weird by that, by the way! I meant... it's alright if you act like that around me, because... ah... damn, what am I even saying?" he murmured to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Never mind. Let's just get back to the guild. With any luck, Natsu won't be back yet and we can have a drink in peace."

She smiled, a funny little smile that wrinkled the bridge of her nose. "Okay."

Her voice was very small, but it was the most she'd said in a week.

* * *

A lot of people didn't understand them.

They didn't understand how Gray could keep a conversation with her going, she said so little. They couldn't comprehend why she was friends with him, because he always seemed to have some sarcastic remark made at her expense whenever she tripped, or dropped something, or messed up in training.

_Why doesn't she say anything? _they'd whisper behind hands cupped around mouths. _She doesn't react to anything, doesn't answer questions... all she's got is that Fairy Tail wizard next to her..._

Gray didn't really understand their friendship, either. She'd come to the guild not long after he had, knocking on the door in the middle of a storm. No one knew where she had come from, or who she trained with, because she wouldn't say. She wouldn't say anything, for a matter of fact. Every time someone spoke to her she flinched before settling down once more into her usual shell. Her safe place.

So Gray sought his own answers, asking the other kids her age about her.

_"You mean Crazy Annie?" _a boy had smirked. _"With the old-lady hair?"_

_"Crazy Annie?" _Gray asked._ "Why is she called Crazy Annie?"_

_"Because her hair is gray! Also, every time someone touches her, they get shocked!" _

_"Shocked? You mean like the electric kind?" _

The boy nodded. _"I heard that one time, she shocked someone so bad, it killed them!"_

He interrogated a few more kids before returning to the guild hall, where he found her sitting alone at a table, a mug of hot chocolate steaming in front of her. He'd walked up and sat on the edge of the bench across from her.

_"You know... it's okay, if you want to talk to me...I won't laugh, or ignore you... I'll always listen." _He wasn't looking at her; he was staring at the same spot in the floorboards, his hair falling into his eyes. _"Because I know what it's like, to feel alone... so... if you ever need anyone... come find me." _

He'd glanced up at her to see her reaction, if any, and he was startled to see tears in her eyes.

_"What?! Why are you crying?!" _

_"Thank you... for being so kind to me..."_

That was the last thing she said for a long, long time.


End file.
